Lock for luggage cases and other containers



Dec. 12, 1939. A. LEVINE LOCK FOR LUGGAGE CASES AND OTHER CONTAINERSFiled Feb. 9, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I. W lllllll I W I L mmmwm...

111-! IIS m .1"- I I I '////////4 III/ll]; YI/I/I/I/l/I I 'I/l 1a 7 INVENT OR.

W ATTORNEY.

Dec. 12, 1939. A. LEVINE 2,183,120

LOCK FOR LUGGAGE CASES AND OTHER CONTAINERS Filed Feb. 9. 1939 2Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. jfinzhwLeg zzze, BY

I PatentedDec. 12, 1939 I LOOK FOR LUGGAGE CASES AND OTHER CONTAINERSAbraham Levine, Elizabeth, N. J.

Application February 9, 1939, Serial No. 255,409

' 4 Claims. (01. 70-473) This invention relates to improvements inhasptaken on line t l in Fig. 3;"Fig. dis a view lock mechanism for luggagecases and other types similar to that of Fig. i, but. showing thelatchof containers. ing means moved to releasedposition relative to vThe invention has for an object to provide a the loop of the haspdevice; Fig. 6 is a view hasp lock mechanism comprising manipulatablesimilar to that of Fig. 3, but with the hasp delatching means forcooperation with the loop'of vicereleased; Fig. 7 is a view similar tothat of a hasp device, said latching means being mount- Figs. 4 and 5,but showing the latching means ed for both sliding and pivotal'movements unpivotally moved by an inserted actuating key der control ofa single spring means, whereby to a position wherein it'is lockedagainst longisaid spring means is adapted to yieldablythrust tudinalhasp releasing movement; .andtFig. 8 is a :10 said latching means intoengaged relation to horizontal section, taken on line 88 in Fig. 3. theloop of-seLid hasp device, and also'to 'yield- Fig. *9 is an exterior.face view and :Fig. 10 a ably retain said latching means in selectedposiside elevation .of .a somewhat modified form oi tions to which itmay be pivotally moved and :hasp lock mechanism according to thisinvention. wherein the same, in one said position, is free Fig. 11 is asectional view, taken on line HH '15 for longitudinal movement relativeto the hasp in Fig. 10, thehousing or external casing bedevice, butinanother of said positions is locked ing omitted; Fig. 12 is a viewsimilar to that of against longitudinal manipulation and movement, Fig.11, but showing thehasp latching means reand thus against disengagementfrom holding released relative to the hasp loop; Fig.- 13 is a k, lationto the hasp loop. horizontal section, taken on line l3-i.3 in Fig.

The invention has for another object to pro- 11; and Fig. 14 is a viewsimilar to thatxof Fig'. vide in a hasp lockmechanism, having spring.11, but showing the .latching means pivotally controlled latchingmeans.subjecttolongitudi- -moved by an inserted actuating key to .a.posinaland'pivotal movements as and'forthe purtion wherein 'it islocked against longitudinal poses above mentioned,'in. connection withwhich hasp releasing movement.

novel key engageable means is provided for mov- Similar characters ofreferenceare employed ing the same to andfrom" selected pivotally'swungin the hereinabove described views, to indicate :positions. r 1corresponding parts.

The invention has for another object to 'pro- Referring to Figs. 1 to.8inclusive, the 'form of .vide a'hasp lock mechanism of the kind menthenovel hasp lock -mechanism therein illustioned, wherein the latchingmeans and its contrated comprises an external housing or casing trolspring is supported by a carrying frame 1 adapted-to be 'aflixed bysuitable fastening p ed o be mounted within and in turn onmeans, such,e. g., as rivets2, to the body section eratively position and supportthese parts within '3 of a luggage case 0r th o tai Th a suitablehousing or ca ng- "housing or casing 'i is provided in its face wall,35Another Object s invention "D with a suitably located access openingsthrough vide in a hasp lock mechanism, -a novel form hi h 0119100 3 5ofa hasp elernent fi may enter. d C t t on Of hasp element and means forSaid housingor casing l is also provided with mounting e Same so that itis self-withdrawin -a suitably located key hole 5 through which a 4 fromthe associated locking means when released key may be passed andthereupon manipulatedr io f om t e est a t of the latching means DO'to'lock or release the latching means contained sessed by the latter.within the housing or casing. The reference Other j s this invention,not 2" character 8 indicates the hasp mounting casing time moreparticularly enumerated, will be unadapted to be aflixed by suitablefastening means,

'45 derstood from the following detailed description "such, e. g.,-asrivets 9, to the cover section It of of the same. i the luggage case orother container.

Illustrative embodiments of this'invention are 7 Fixed within thehousing or casing i is a carshown in the accompanying drawings, inwhich: rying frame for supporting the hasp latching Fig. 1 is anexterior face viewof one form means of thelock mechanism. Said carryingof hasp lock mechanism accordingto thisyinframescomprises a body plateit having along-50 vention, and Fig. 2 is a side elevational view andintegral with'its longitudinal margins side thereof. a flanges 12approximating in .projectional extent Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinalsection',:taken the thickness of a latching means to be supon line 3-3in Fig. 1, but drawn on an 'envported. Said-body plate ll is suitablyfixed withlarged scale; Fig. 4 is a transversewsectional.view, Iin'thehousing or cas ngyl withxits sideflangesr55 I2 directed toward andabutting the front wall of said housing or casing. Mounted for movementwithin the space intermediate the front wall of the housing or casing land the body plate H of the carrying frame is a latching meanscomprising a plate-like body 13 having at one end an extension i l ofconsiderably reduced width. Said extension hi projects exteriorlythrough an opening It; provided in an end wall of the housing or casing,and the rounded extremity 16 of said extension constitutes an externalfinger-piece for purposes hereinafter explained. Formed in the extensionI lis a longitudinal slot H, the inner end of which forms a roundedbearing portion l8. Said frame body plate H is cut away at one end toform a fulcrum post l9 suitably located to extend through said slot H,and suitably rounded on its inner face to correspond to and fit thebearing portion l8, thus pivoting the body is of the latching means forlateral swinging movement. Said latching means body [3 is of taperingwidth from its pivoted end toward its opposite or free end, thuspermitting desired play or lateral swinging movements thereof.Projecting from the free end of said body l3, at a suitable pointintermediate its sides, is a nosing 20. Also provided adjacent to thefree end of said body 13 is a stop shoulder 2|, which is preferablyformed by cutting away a corner portion of said body. This stop shoulder2| is disposed for cooperation with a stop-lug 22 which is struck out ofthe frame body plate ll. Pivotal swinging movement of said latching body3 in one direction will bring said stop shoulder 2! in opposition tosaid stoplug 22, and in the opposite direction will dispose said stopshoulder out of alignment with said stop-lug so that the former willclear the latter for permitted longitudinal movement of said latchingbody 53. Means are provided for effecting by an inserted key K desiredpivotal swing movements of said latching body 13, and to such end aportion of the latter is cut away to provide a key clearance opening 23.One margin of said opening 23 is suitably indented to form properlyspaced key bit engageable shoulders 24 and 25. The frame body plate H isprovided with a key fulcruming pin- 26 which extends into the keyclearance opening 23 and so as to be aligned with key hole 1 of thehousing or casing I.

Formed in the latching body l3 in a position to correspond to thelocation of the hasp loop access opening 4 of the housing or casing l,is an opening 27 through which the hasp loop 5 may extend when enteredin the housing or casing I. Formed in connection with the latching body[3, to project into the opening 27 from the margin thereof toward thefree end of said body I3, is a latch element 28. Said latch element 28is provided at its free end with a chamfered face 29 directed toward thehasp loop access opening 4.

The frame body plate H, at the end portion thereof which lies adjacentto the free end of said latching body I3, is provided with a transverseend flange 36 disposed to project toward and preferably so as to abutthe front wall of the housing or casing I; said flange 30 also beingspaced somewhat away from the free end of said latching body l3.Interposed between said flange 30 and said free end of the latching bodyI3 is a spring means for controlling the movements of the latter. Thisspring means is of substantially U-shape, one leg 3| being disposedcontiguous to said flange 30 so as to be supported or purchased thereby.The other leg 32 of said spring means is provided with a nosing 33. Saidspring means exerts a tensional endwise outward thrust upon the latchingbody l3 which causes the bearing portion l8 to bear upon the fulcrumpost l9, thus stopping the latching body l3 in position to dispose thelatch element 28 for hasp loop engagement; at the same time said springnosing 33 engages one or the other side (as the case may be) of saidlatching body nosing 2?), thereby to yieldingly hold the latching bodyl3 in a desired laterally swung position.

When the latching body l3 occupies an upwardly swung position (as viewedin Figs. 4 and 5), the stop shoulder 2! thereof is disposed out ofalignment with said stop-lug 22 and so as to pass the latch when thelatching body it is inwardly moved. Under these circumstances, the hasploop 5, if entered through the access opening 4, will engage thechamfered face 29 of the latchelement 28 so as to snap past the latterand thereupon be engaged in interlatched relation thereto (see Fig. 4).If it is desired to release the hasp loop 5 from such engagement, theoperator merely pushes inwardly upon the finger piece l6, thus movingthe latching body [3 longitudinally inward against the tension of thespring (BL-32 (see Fig. 5). If it is desired to secure the latching bodyl3 against hasp-loop releasing movement, a key K is inserted throughkey-hole l and fulcrurned on pin 26. By turning the key clockwise, a bitthereof is moved into engagement with the shoulder 25, thus exerting adownward swinging pressure upon the latching body l3, whereby the latteris turned about the fulcrum post l9 so as to carry its stop shoulder 21into opposition to the stop lug 22, whereby manipulated inwardlongitudinal movement of the latching body !3 is obstructed (see Fig.7). To again release the latching body 53 for longitudinal manipulation,the key K is inserted and turned anti-clockwise, to carry its bit intolifting engagement with the shoulder 24, whereby said latching body I3is swung upward to normal initial position shown in Fig. 4.

. In Figs. 1 to 4 and 6, there is shown a novel construction andarrangement of hasp element and mounting therefor. The body of the haspelement 6 terminates atv its upper end in an angular extension 34doubled back or rearwardly upon itself. Said angular extension 34 isentered downwardly through an opening 35 in the top wall of the casing8, thus pivoting the hasp element upon a free margin 36 of the casingfront wall which borders said opening 35 by engaging the internaljuncture 3'! of the hasp element and its angular extension thereon.Supported by lugs 38, with which the casing 8 is provided, is a bridgingspring plate 39 formed to provide a flexible spring bar 49 which extendsacross and yieldably engages the lower free end of the angular extension34 of the hasp element, thus operating to rock the latter to swing itsbody outward when unrestrained as to such movement (see Fig. 6). Inorder to retain the hasp element against lateral displacement orwobbling, its angular extension 34 is provided with a slot 4!, andextending from the front wall of the casing 8 is a curved guide tongue42 disposed to engage through said slot 4|.

In Figs. 9 to 14 inclusive of the drawings, there is shown a somewhatmodified form of hasp lock means, which embodies however the generalprinciples of this invention. In this arrangement as shown, thereference character 50 indicates theexternal casing or housing withinwhich is suitably afiixed a carrying frame having the side flanges 52for spacing the same relative to the front wall of saidcasingand'housingand modified atone or its forward end to provide aperforate end piece 53 to lie contiguous to the casing front ,wall, withits opening 54 aligned with a hasp loop access opening 55 with which thecasing front wall is provided. At its rearward end said frame 5! isprovided with a transverse end fiange 56. Mounted between said frame .5!and the casing front wall is a longitudinally movable'latching body 5'!having a'latch element 58 projecting from its forward end. Pivotallymounted on said latching body-.51, by a pivoting rivet 59 or the like,is a laterally swingable member til, the body of which is suitably cutaway to provide a clearance opening 6|, one margin of which is formed toprovide key engageable shoulders 62 and 63. Slidable on the outer faceof the casing front wall is a finger piece 64 connected by couplingtongues 65 with the latching body 57, said coupling tongues 65 extendingthrough the clearance opening 6! so as not to impede the lateralswinging movements of the member 60. At its rearward free end saidswingable member 60 is provided with a suitably located nosing 66, andis further provided at its bottom edge adjacent to its free end, with astop tongue 61, adapted to cooperate, at proper times, with a receivingstop slot 68 formed in an adjacent side flange of the frame 5|.Interposed between said flange 56 and the free end of said swingablemember iii) is a U-shaped spring means, one leg 69 of which is supportedagainst said flange 56 and the other leg of which thrust against the endof said swingable member 60. Said spring leg 10 is provided with anosing H to cooperate with the nosing 66 of the body 5? for operativelongitudinal movements;

Under these circumstances, the loop '52 of a hasp element it, if enteredthrough the access opening of easing 5t, will engage the chamfered end58 of the latch element 58 carried by the latching body 5 so as to snappast said latch element 8 and thereupon be engaged in interlockedrelation thereto (see Figs. 11 and 13). If it is desired to release thehasp loop 72 from such engagement, the operator merely pushes to theright the finger-piece 64, thus moving the latching body 51longitudinally inward against the tension of the spring 38-l8 (see Fig.12). If it is desired to secure the latching body 57 against hasp loopreleasing movement, a key K is inserted through a key-hole TM (in thiscase provided in the finger-piece 6t) and thereupon turned clockwise todown-swinging engagement with the shoulder 63, thus swinging down themember 80 to carry its stop tongue Bl into the stop slot 68, wherebymanipulated inward longitudinal movement of the latching body 51 isobstructed (see Fig. 14) To again release the latching body 51 forlongitudinal manipulation, the key K is turned in anti-clockwisedirection to upswinging engagement with the shoulder (52, whereby saidmember (if) is upswung to normal initial position wherein the stoptongue 611 is withdrawn from the stop slot 68, thereby again freeing the1 latching body 57 for longitudinal movement and manipulation. It willbe obvious, that in the described modified construction, the latchingmeans is merely divided into two parts pivotally connected together andso mounted, that one part is arranged vfor longitudinal movement and theother for lateral swinging movements, allof material and productioncosts, the first described form is preferable. Y

Iam aware that many changes could be made in the above describedstructures, as well as in the details of'the construction of the same,without departing from the scope of my invention as defined by theappended claims. do not limit my invention to the exact arrangements andcombinations of the devices and parts as set forth in the foregoingspecification, nor do I confine myself to the exact details of theconstruction of said parts as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

I claim:

In a hasp lock device including a pivoted hasp having a latching loop, ahousing into which the hasp loop may be entered, a hasp loop latchingmeans supported witlnn said housing so as to be capable of bothlongitudinal and pivotal movements, a single spring means forcontrolling both longitudinal and pivotal movements of said latchingmeans, cooperative stop means operative when said latching means ispivotally moved in one direction to obstruct longitudinal hasp loo-preleasing movement thereof, said latching means having key engageablemeans whereby the same may be pivotally moved by an inserted and turnedactuating key, and said latching means having means exteriorly of saidhousing for manually moving the same longitudinally against the tensionof said spring means.

2. In a hasp lock device including a pivoted hasp having a latchingloop, a housing into which said hasp loop may be entered, a hasp looplatching means supported within said housing so as to be capable of bothlongitudinal and pivotal movements, said latching means having at itsfree end a projected nosing, a U-shaped spring the tensionally movableleg of which is provided with a nosing cooperative with said latchingmeans nosing to determine the respective pivotally moved positions ofsaid latching means, said latching means having a latch tongue to engagesaid hasp loop, said spring being adapted to yieldably thrust saidlatching means longitudinally in a direction to engage said latch tonguewith said hasp loop, cooperative stop means operative when said latchingmeans is pivotally moved in one direction to obstruct longitudinalmovement of the same in a direction to release said latch tongue fromsaid hasp loop, and said latching means having means exteriorly of saidhousing for manually moving the same longitudinally against said springtension.

3. In a hasp lock device including a pivoted hasp having a latchingloop, a housing into which the latching loop may be entered, a latchingbody, means for supporting said latching body within said housing forboth longitudinal and pivotal movement, said latching body having alatch tongue to engage said hasp loop, spring means to yieldab-ly retainsaid latching body in selected pivotally disposed position and inlongitudinally moved position to engage its latch tongue with said hasploop, means connected Hence, I

with said latching body exposed exteriorily of said casing formanipulating the same for longitudinal hasp loop releasing movement,cooperative stop means operative when said latching body is disposed ina selected pivotally moved position to obstruct longitudinal hasp loopreleasing movement thereof, and key engageable means for producingdesired pivotal movements of said latching body.

4. In a hasp lock device including a pivotal hasp having a latchingloop, a housing into which the hasp loop may be entered, a frame meansfixed within said housing, a latching body mounted between the housingfront Wall and said frame means for both longitudinal and lateralmovements, cooperative means between said frame means and latching bodyto fulcrum the latter for lateral movements, spring means purchased bysaid frame means to yieldably thrust said latching body to hasp looplatching position, said latching body having means exteriorly of saidhousing for longitudinally moving the same to hasp loop releasingposition, said latching body having key engageable means for controllingits lateral movements, cooperative stop means adapted to be engaged whensaid latching body is moved to one lateral position and to be disengagedwhen the same is moved to its other lateral position, and said latchingbody and spring means having cooperating elements to yieldably retainthe former in selected laterally moved position.

ABRAHAM LEVINE.

